


panda lilies

by DarlingImaWriter



Series: Lin Beifong one shots [2]
Category: Avatar: Legend of Korra
Genre: F/F, Fluff, Romance, lin is bad at her feelings but whats new, reader is a cutie, sokka and suki are dead tho so thats sad, the tiniest hint of angst
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-07
Updated: 2020-10-07
Packaged: 2021-03-07 19:22:15
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26882845
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarlingImaWriter/pseuds/DarlingImaWriter
Summary: You both are terrified of admitting your feelings for one another, but an old gift finally rips the truth out of you.
Relationships: Lin Beifong/Reader, Sokka/Suki (Avatar)
Series: Lin Beifong one shots [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1962940
Comments: 4
Kudos: 69





	panda lilies

You were a coward. Sure you’d taken multiple benders at once, won spars, and fought alongside others to right what was wrong. But when it came to your feelings, you clammed up and became something pitiful. It’s at your grandfather’s funeral that you reunite with your first love, snowfalls in little flurries, and the sun is already setting despite it only being midday. Winter had come and taken with it a piece of you.

She sets a hand on your shoulder and gives it a comforting squeeze “He was a remarkable man,” Lin says. You let out a sigh and look over at her, your grandparents had practically raised you, what with your mom dying while giving birth to your younger brother and your father dying a few years later in a shipwreck. 

Suki had died two years ago, that’s the last time you’d seen Lin. The ceremony was a beautiful mix of water tribe and Kyoshi traditions, warriors that hailed from your grandmother’s homeland had all come to properly bury her in their traditional garb with the white makeup painted across their faces. You knew all the women who came, having trained alongside them growing up, and despite Sokka not having any ties to Kyoshi island, they had also come today to offer support. Your closest friend among the warriors eyes Lin’s hand and gives you a look of encouragement before turning her back and leaving. 

“Thank you for coming,” you say, completely turning your body to face Lins. You shouldn’t have been surprised about her showing up, but she’d been so busy in Republic City, her letters had lessened over the years and the yearly winter solstice call you two shared stopped a few years ago. You remember idly sitting by your telephone as you twirled the cord around, waiting for it to ring. Lin always called you, the second she got home from work on the winter solstice you’d talk the night away. 

Your brother used to tease you about it, going on about how you’d give up the delights of the delicious foods and games only held on this night for some girl oceans away, but he stopped when he came home to you staring at the phone with your knees brought up to your chest. Lin was a bit older than you, what with you only being thirty but you didn’t think that would stop her from contacting you… Until it did, because that had to be the reason she cut you out. You must not be mature enough for her. 

“Of course, I…” Lin drops her hand, seeming to have forgotten it was even there. She clears her throat and sighs “I wouldn’t be able to live with myself if I had skipped this.” Sokka was like a father to Lin, that much you know. Lin didn’t know her real father and so he had stepped up to fill that male role in her and Suyin’s life. When he had taken in you and your brother, he had immediately introduced you to all the Beifong women, you’d been crying about feeling so alone, the weight of it crushing you, and they all helped piece you back together. You were only seventeen then and terrified of a world without your father. 

Now you’re thirty and honestly, you’re terrified of a world without your grandfather. You gulp and a shudder passes through your body as you try to keep it all down. Lin must notice this because she wraps her arms around you and presses you close. You immediately wrap your arms around her waist and bury your face into her neck as you cry. Technically you should become the new Chief, but you’d begged your younger brother to take the role, the idea of ruling a nation made your hair fall. You stay there in each other’s arms until your fingertips start to go numb and when you pull away with a groan, Lin leads you to your home. You ask her if you can go there instead of to the wake, you don’t want to listen to even more people offer their condolences. 

“Of course, whatever you want” she replies, your arm is looped through hers and she sets her hand on top of yours, she states its to keep you warm and maybe it is, but you like to think its because she likes you back. Once inside she lets go of you, and you reluctantly drop your arms, it’s unbearably silent and you immediately try to busy yourself. 

“Tea?” you say, grabbing the pot and filling it with water. Lin is used to seeing you do this to avoid any type of serious conversation, you busy yourself with something and usually, it ends up being tea. “I’d love a cup,” she says softly, it’s best to let you get it out of your system. 

She sits down onto your couch that is covered in different thick fur blankets, Lin picks a familiar one up, it’s from your first boyfriend, he’d gone on a hunt with your grandfather and skinned it into a blanket just for you, he thought it was truly romantic whilst you held it with a look of fake happiness. Once alone you’d looked at Lin and laughed, you joked about how barbaric that was and how you’d never want a significant other to give you a dead animal in the future. 

Besides, blankets were typical presents older relatives gave in the south pole. A chuckle escapes her as she fingers the blanket, you glance over and blush at the sight of Lin sitting so comfortably in your home. Even when she came to visit Suki she’d been quite distant, she still comforted you but left shortly after. It made you cry even harder than you already were, but your friends held you together and tried to convince you to get over her. But you knew you never would. 

Lin has her legs spread open with her elbows on her knees as she stares at that stupid blanket. “Can’t believe you kept this” she says, breaking the silence. The whistle of the teapot keeps you from replying at first, you pour the hot water into two cups along with the jasmine leaves. You picked them both up and walked over to her, she leaned up and took her cup, “thank you.” 

You sit down on the other side of the couch and hold the steaming cup between your hands. “I don’t throw out gifts people give me” you admit, softly blowing at your tea. Unbeknownst to the earth bender, you have a wooden box hidden away underneath your bed, and inside is every gift Lin has ever given you. Even the box itself was a gift from her. 

“Not a single one?” She asks, raising her brows. You’ve been given some weird stuff over the years especially seeing as you were originally next in line to be chief, everyone tried to butter you up with so many things you’d never use nor want. “Nope” you reply. 

You take a sip of your tea and let out a hiss at the burnt feeling it leaves on your tongue, but you like it, it distracts you from the pounding in your chest. “Even…” Lin pauses, she looks down at the teacup in her hands, its a set Iroh II sent you last year for your birthday, he said it reminded him of the south pole with the deep bluefish and the silver snowflakes smattered about. “Even my gifts?” 

You swallow down a large gulp of tea that scolds your throat on the way down and nod, “Uhm, yeah I still have them all.” 

“Can I see?” Well, you most certainly didn’t expect that spirits help you. “Sure, yeah I’ll go grab them,” You say, you hastily set your cup on your coffee table, some of the contents slosh out the side but you simply leave it be and practically race into your room. Your cheeks feel warm, you bring your hands up to your face and walk over to the mirror on top of your dresser. 

Almost your whole face is red due to embarrassment, but you could never say no to Lin and so you take a deep breath and pull the box out from under your bed. It’s a carved box, with details of fish and polar dogs on the side, on top of it is your full name in elegant handwriting. Lin had made this for you using her bending, she swore it only took a few hours but with the craftsmanship of it your so sure it had taken weeks to prepare. 

“You can do this, it’s just Lin,” you say to yourself, but that’s the problem, it’s Lin. You’d dated so many people in hopes of getting over her but at the end of the day, you’d always wish the person beside you in bed was a grouchy earth bender with a scar across her cheek. It’s honestly embarrassing, you’d never even dated, never even kissed. But alas, feelings are a horrible thing.

You finally work up the courage to leave the comfort of your darkroom and reenter the living room, Lin’s eyes widen at the box in your arms and you set it between the two of you on the couch, you don’t notice, to transfixed by the calluses on your hands to see Lin blushing at the sight. She made this for you for your first birthday as friends, she honestly forgot it even existed up until now. 

Lin hesitantly flicks up the latch and opens it up. The box lets out a loud creak that makes you cringe a bit. Inside is everything, it’s like a time capsule and Lin is truly speechless. The necklace she metal bent you, the ticket you got from the pro-bending match you both attended together, which was your first-ever as well. A dress is folded underneath along with every letter ever sent to you. What makes Lin’s whole body freeze is the sight of a pressed flower encased in glass to protect it. 

She had given you that flower when you visited republic city one summer, you had been crying over some stupid girl who decided you weren’t enough to make her happy, way before that day you had once ranted to Lin about how all you ever wanted from someone was a flower, you said it seemed so intimate and personal. She’d given it to you in hopes of cheering you up. It was worth going to the florist, your whole face lit up and your tears ceased as you marveled at it. 

“It’s just a simple panda lily” Lin had said, trying her hardest to keep her composure at that moment, knowing that she made you smile that big made her feel like she was some kind of hero, she had thought about how she never wanted you to direct that smile at anyone else but her, it was different from your usual one.  
You look up from your lap and your whole face flushes a deep red when you see what’s halted her movements. “I didn’t know you kept all this,” Lin says softly, she clears her throat and pulls away from the box, you hastily shut it, latching the lock back into place and setting it down onto the floor, out of sight. 

“I told you, I keep everything…” you look down at your hands, you may keep everything simply to be polite, but you kept everything from her because holding it made you feel like she was with you. 

“Even a stupid flower?” Lin quirks a brow and you gasp, your eyes shooting up to look into her green ones. 

“It’s not a stupid flower, it was one of the best gifts I’ve ever been given!” 

“It’s not even one of those rare ones, it’s just a panda lily” Lin replies. She doesn’t know why she’s saying this, maybe she wants you to say something, admit something that might give her even just a speck of hope. 

“It’s…” you sigh, your brows knit together in frustration, “it’s the only gift I’ve ever received that made me feel special and I’d like it if you wouldn’t talk badly of it.” 

“Why does it make you feel so special?” Again, she’s hoping you keep going, keep giving her something to go off of. You roll your eyes and stand up, picking up the box as well. 

“It’s nothing, I should… I should get some sleep” you say before disappearing into your room. You aren’t sure when she leaves but you do know when you wake up the next morning the teacups have been cleaned and she’s nowhere in sight. You’re such a coward, she already hardly keeps in contact with you, she probably won’t at all anymore. There goes your twice a year letters. 

You get ready for the day and head over to the Chief’s house where you know your brother and friends will be, maybe they can calm you down before dinner tonight where Lin will probably be. When you arrive your brother is nowhere to be seen, instead you find your Kyoshi friends who all give you tight, long hugs. When you reach your best friend she hugs you longer and murmurs “I’m sorry about your grandfather and Lin.” 

You rip yourself out of her grasp, your face pinched in confusion “what happened to Lin?” you ask, the warriors all look at each other, waiting for one of them to fess up. “She told your brother republic city needed her back sooner than she thought, said she’s gonna take the first boat back.” One of your friends says softly with a pitying look, no. 

You push past them and race down the stairs, the first trade ship docks around the afternoon and leaves the harbor only an hour after, It should still be in port if you make it in time. You race down the wide icy streets of your home as fast as you can, just two more blocks, you tell yourself. You zip around a corner and crash into something hard and wooden, you crash to the ground and let out a groan at the pain the erupts from your fall. 

“My cabbages!” a man yells out and you open your eyes to see dozens of cabbages rolling around. “You-” he turns to you with a face full of rage but you pull yourself up despite the aches in your bones and run past him. 

“I am so sorry!” you yell over your shoulder, there it is, the port. It’s in front of your eyes and there’s a trade ship still docked there, you don’t slow down as you weave past oncoming traffic and race down the steps before finally you’re on the icy dock, and ahead of you is her, she’s talking to one of the men loading the ship, probably ordering him around, you think fondly. You run over to her, her back is facing you so she doesn’t see you run-up, so you grip her arm and spin her around. 

She’s surprised and you see her shoot out a metal wire which thankfully misses you, when she sees it’s you her face pinches in annoyance “I could have hurt you! You can’t just snea-” you interrupt her in a way you’ve only ever dreamed of doing and pull her lips down to crash into your own. She lets a sound of surprise that sounds like a mixture between a squeak and a groan which if she doesn’t slap you across the face and shun you for eternity you might just tease her about it. 

At first, she remains completely still and the courage that finally pumped through your veins vanishes, you pull away from her, your hands dropping from her cheeks as you try to formulate an apology in your head. Before you can even think of one, Lin has pulled you back into a kiss and this time she readily returns it. Her hands thread through your hair and tilt your head back so she can properly slant her lips against yours and spirits, this feels better than your wildest dreams. 

Her lips are so soft and her hands are rough from a lifetime of work and fighting away bad guys but you love it, you love the feeling of them against your cheeks, of her long fingers tugging your hair. 

Finally, you pull away for air and you stare deep into Lin’s eyes, she keeps her hands in your hair as you blurt out, “I know this is a really bad time but if I don’t blurt it out now I don’t think I’ll ever be able to tell you. I think I’m in love with you!” Your voice raises a bit at the end. “It was special to me not because it was a flower, like I had ranted about years before you even gave it to me, but because you gave it to me!”

Lin looks deep into your eyes as you confess to her, all these years she’s been pulling more and more away from you in fear she might slip up about her feelings but you’ve reciprocated them all along if she had just told you sooner as she’d always dreamed of.

“I…” Lin blushes, she’s not good with words or talking about her feelings but she knows she needs to say this, even if you don’t make her, “I love you too, I think I realized that day when I gave you the panda lily.” 

Laughter bubbles up through your throat and it escapes you, she’s loved you all these years? Spirits you both are clueless. 

“If you’ll let me, I’ll like to give you a million more,” she says softly, you bite your lip to keep from grinning to wide as you slowly nod. “I’d love that.”

**Author's Note:**

> this was requested by a nonnie on my tumblr, I hope you enjoy it!


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